Congress govt in Puducherry loses confidence vote

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 22

The Congress-led coalition in Puducherry lost the majority in the 30- member assembly on Monday after two MLAs resigned plunging the government into a decisive minority.

Among those who resigned were Congress MLA K Laxminarayanan and DMK’s K Venkatesan.

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy resigned and blamed the former LG Kiran Bedi for colluding with the Centre to weaken the Puducherry government by blocking development plans.

The Congress government had on February 14 lost the majority in the house after MLA A John Kumar had resigned, reducing the Congress numbers to 10.

Related
In deep water: Two more MLAs quit in Puducherry

The DMK, with three MLAs and an independent, were part of the Congress-led government.

Two Congress MLAs had previously resigned on January 25 and joined the BJP.

As of Monday, five Congress lawmakers have resigned, and a sixth was earlier disqualified for anti-party work.

Puducherry assembly has 30 members and three nominated members.

Ahead of the trust vote, Narayanasamy claimed majority based on his request to the speaker to not allow the three nominated members to vote.

Since past apex court orders have allowed nominated MLAs to vote, the Puducherry speaker allowed them to vote.

The Congress-led coalition was on Sunday left with 12 MLAs while the opposition has 14 MLAs.

The Congress had won 15 seats in the 2016 polls and came to power with the support of three DMK and one independent member. Opposition AIADMK has 4 MLAs, All India NR Congress seven and the BJP three nominated MLAs.

After the Congress lost the majority, the newly appointed LG of Puducherry Tamilsai Soundararajan had asked it to take a floor test and prove its majority.

With Monday’s developments, the Congress is left with governments on its own in Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and coalition in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

BJP took jibes at the Congress saying it lost the majority in Puducherry days after Rahul Gandhi’s visit.

Earlier story: Kiran Bedi removed as Puducherry LG

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.